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Vegetable gardening has grown exponentially in recent years. Why not – you can produce food that is free from chemicals to your family.

Gardening is not rocket science, but it is hard work, and you are going to get dirty in it.

You don’t need a lot of space to grow fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruits. You don’t really even need a garden. There are plant varieties that can also survive in containers all year long.

It is a pure pleasure to bite a freshly picked tomato from your own garden while it is still warm from the summer sun. When you have your private vegetable garden, you can have this pleasure all season round.

Have fun, don’t take life, and gardening, too seriously.

However, growing a sufficient amount of fresh vegetables every year takes some time and experience. For most of us, becoming a successful vegetable gardener comes after years of practice. Nevertheless, you can reduce your learning curve by employing some proven vegetable gardening tips.

Here are five vegetable gardening tips good to know.

1. Improve your soil

Few of us are blessed with a generous supply of beautiful, fertile land and topsoil. Depending on where you are living, you may find yourself fighting with harsh conditions, like heavy clay, rocky, sandy or other less-than-ideal soil.

Healthy soil means that you can enjoy healthy plants, which resist pests and diseases, reducing the need for harmful pesticides.

Each of these soil types gives you various challenges, like retaining too much or too less water, or not having enough nutrients plants need to live. For instance, if you have heavy clay soil, you can’t just dig a hole in the ground and drop a plant into it. Chances are that plant won’t survive. The heavy clay around your plant will work as a water tank. When it rains, your plant will be like in a bathtub. This kind of clay soil doesn’t have anything to drain.

Your step number one is to identify the type of soil you have. Then you know what actions to take to improve it. Once you have a better understanding of what you are dealing with, you’ll be able to determine what is needed to change or enhance your type of soil.

2. Take advantage of vertical space

You can take advantage of vertical space in your garden, whenever possible. You can do it by utilizing netting, fences, and other constructions to keep your weeds off the ground.

There are many benefits to raising your vegetables vertically. For starters, you can produce more food in a smaller area. That is great for urban gardens or those with otherwise limited space. Plus, harvesting and weeding around your plants is a lot easier when you are growing vegetables on structural supports. Less bending and stretching is always helpful for your lower back. This is especially beneficial for older gardeners or those with other physical limitations.

Raising vertically helps your plants, too. Growing the plants off the ground channels a better air circulation around them. Good air circulation helps to keep fungal infections and pest infestations low.

3. Plants benefit from friends

Some plants work well with each other, and some not. Learning which plants benefit from the proximity of others is a vital step to maximize the efficiency of your vegetable garden. Companion planting is a smart way to improve your harvest.

Some plants are especially helpful to one another. It makes sense to group these seedlings together in your garden.

Certain combinations of plants may add:

needed nutrients to the soil,

deter unwanted pests or

attract useful insects into your field.

Native Americans usually planted corn, beans, and squash together. Each plant helped the others in some way. For example, the corn stalks gave a framework for the beans to grow up. The squash gave a great weed stop as it spread out along the ground.

4. Pollinators are your allies

It is vital to guarantee that your garden is helpful for pollination by creating an ecosystem that drags pollinators (primarily insects). You can do this for instance by mixing some colorful flowers with your vegetables. One of the most valuable allies that your beginner vegetable garden can have are pollinators.

5. Seeds

You can buy everything online these days, and seed is no exemption. People are selling seed on Craigslist, and there are undoubtedly hundreds of sites where you can buy seed online. Buy your seeds from a trusted source to avoid getting something else than what you ordered.

Vegetable gardens are sought for in all over the world, as the big trend in gardening is growing your own food. Using organically grown veggies is an ever-growing movement.

Vegetable gardening is also an easy way to save money, and if you plan it right, you don’t need to spend hours taking care of it. The size of your garden space doesn’t matter, it can be big or small.

Nevertheless, a majority of what we consume today aren’t free of insecticides and pesticides. These harmful chemicals are absorbed by the roots of plants and captured in their produce.

These chemicals are effective at instantly killing insects and pest. Slowly but surely they harm our biological system too.

When producing at home, we prioritize quality over quantity.

Organic food seems to be the immediate option. But its authenticity is doubtful. It isn’t inexpensive either. What we need is vegetable gardens right in our homes and yards. We want it close to make maintenance easy.

Location matters

Location of plants has a bigger say in their performance. By placing the plants far from home, they get off the attention. They get maximum care only when they are placed near home. Place or plant them where you will usually wind up for leisure. Initially, they can be kept indoors and eventually moved to outdoors when they are fully grown.

Is it modern and scientific?

Vegetable gardens at home are making a trend very recently. Interior decorators, landscape designers, and horticulturists encourage the practice. The vegetable gardens are not part of any anti-scientific drive. It just gets you off the toxic grid, infested by pesticides and insecticides.

When producing at home, we prioritize quality over quantity. We grow the plants in a controlled environment. There are plenty of researches and papers happening on home gardens. It’s not too tough to check for resources online. You can always consult with the local agriculture and horticulture societies in your area.

Choosing vegetable varieties

There are tons of plant varieties to choose from. When space is limited, choose veggies that produce smaller plants.

You can choose the best disease resistant varieties with better hot-cold tolerance as low maintenance plants. There are high yield varieties to consider, if you are taking up gardening as trade. Pick two or three varieties to even out an odd failure plant. You can always grow the low performing varieties in another season.

Soil requirements

You need the right kind of soil for every plant. With containers and collected soil, you can grow plants that are not native to the area. You can keep your plants indoors as well as outdoors. That’s as far as containers go.

If you can’t get the right kind of soil prepare homemade compost. Use your day to day decomposable waste in it. Frequently add toppings to improve breathability and protection against frost. The idea is to get a well-drained, organically rich soil. Soil temperature always plays a part. There are soil thermometers to measure that.

Choosing container type

Use appropriate container type for each plant. Salads are pretty much the easiest. They need a narrow container, where the roots grow deep. Tomatoes can be grown in mostly all types of containers. Potatoes do well in bigger containers including bags and sacs improvised for this purpose. The container type is decided by the water requirement of the particular plant species.

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About Me

Hi, I’m city-raised girl originally from Munich, Germany, who now lives small-town life, loves mountains, and the simple life in Colorado. Follow me as I explore this lovely state. And join me as I learn how to cook and garden, with a tweaks for a modern working woman.